Switching sides

Officials seek to move proposed bike path

Officials seek to move proposed bike path

April 03, 2009|By Chris Engle, Staff Writter

OTSEGO COUNTY — Township and city officials have scrapped the idea of putting a bike path along the east side of Old 27 and are switching sides. The decision, instead, is to shoot for a pathway from Waters to Gaylord on the west side of the road along the train tracks. The hurdle, according to Otsego Lake Township Supervisor Tom Wagar, is getting permission from Lake State Railway to do so.

Opposition to the original plan came from business owners on the east side of the roadway concerned they’d lose much-needed parking space to a trail.

The new plan has Wagar, Bagley Township Supervisor Bill Giles, Gaylord City Manager Joe Duff and others working together to get a pedestrian pathway to run from Waters north, under the I-75 viaduct and connect to South Otsego Avenue. Local officials hope to obtain the support of the Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources, Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer, R-Kewadin, and Sen. Tony Stamas, R-Midland, in securing some state funding and convincing the railroad to allow the project.

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Lake State Railway Co. of Saginaw controls a portion of the right-of-way.

The ultimate goal is to have a trail from Grayling connecting to the recently completed 62-mile Gaylord to Mackinaw Trail.

“I think extending the trail is a huge desire for residents,” Wagar said Friday. “The problem we have to get ironed out first is the railroad’s power of deciding whether it happens or not. It’s a big hurdle.”

According to Wagar, the rail company’s concerns generally involve liability, especially in the area near A&L Iron where scrap metal hauling could pose danger to pedestrians. Lake State Railway Co. Property Administrator Vicky Chmura was unavailable for comment Friday morning.

Giles believes there is state funding available for such a project and said he’d be willing to put up a fence to address the railroad’s safety concerns.

“With all the stimulus and grant money available for these kinds of projects we felt we could fund this project,” Giles said.

Connecting the trail to South Otsego Avenue is where the city comes in. The hope, according to Duff, is to extend sidewalks to the trail when South Otsego Avenue is reconstructed.

“The state has said, at some point in time, there will be some construction on that roadway,” said Duff. “Project Pedestrian” — which involves pedestrian sidewalks, islands and crossings along that stretch of roadway — has been submitted to the state but is not likely to be acted upon anytime soon.

“When that will be, who knows,” Duff said. “We’re just planning for the future.”